"What the hell are you guys doing in my room? Yuzu, what did you do to my socks!" Ichigo's eyes were narrowed, in a rather upset fashion. He pulled the socks off of Yuzu's hands. "I kind of expected better of you!"

"Actually... it was me, Kurosaki-kun," came the muttered reply of Inoue. The only male in the room turned towards her, shock suddenly written all over his face.

Scratching his head, he handed the socks back to Yuzu. "What are you guys doing?"

Yuzu piped up, her voice rather excited about everything. "Karin-chan's friend is feeling down in the dumps like daddy gets, so we're making a video to cheer him up."

Ichigo's eyes glanced around the room, his eyes falling on Matsumoto. "You... exactly who is Karin's friend."

"I think he's a ghost person," the more positive thinking twin piped up, her voice over chipper. "I believe his name is Toshiro. Karin says he's pretty cool."

At that, Ichigo suddenly shoved Yuzu from the room, closing the door behind him. He then went over and grabbed Karin and began to push her out of the room. "You and I will have a talk later."

His sister narrowed her eyes at him. "Like about how you're a shingami?"

Ichigo slammed the door behind him, and looked straight at the camera. "What is going on here? Last time I checked, Toshiro was fine."

"Uhh... we need the sock puppets for this..." Orihime muttered.

"No... you don't." Ichigo muttered, shaking his head. "Rangiku, what is going on?"

"Well, it started with me making a video about things that people liked about themselves," Rangiku sighed. "When I went to go do taicho, he said he didn't have anything he liked about himself, and that he hated everything. So, I am making a video of people's responses about things they like about taicho."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "With sock puppets? And what is with Karin being involved?"

"Toshiro-kun apparently played soccer with Karin-chan..." Orihime muttered from the side, likely twiddling her fingers.

"Give me the camera," Ichigo suddenly stated, holding out his hand.

"No! I won't have you erasing our hard work!" Rangiku protested.

"What I am going to do, is make sure your hard work isn't a complete waste of time," Ichigo muttered, holding his hand out for the camera. The device bobbed as it was handed to him, then turned off.

The camera clicked on, and Ichigo's face popped onto screen, his face rather serious. He gave a half smirk. "I've watched Rangiku's video, so I could give you a good answer that you need. From what she was telling me, I assumed that you just didn't like certain aspects of yourself. It was kind of disappointing to find out you hated yourself."

"I mean, not disappointing as in the idea, that I am disappointed in you. More of, Toshiro, your an awesome kid, a lot more mature then a good deal of the kids my age, including those equivalently my age... like Renji. That's saying a lot about you, and it is something you should be proud of really."

"I also didn't know you knew my little sister. Actually, I am surprised that you were able to make friends with Karin. Yuzu's a lot easier to get along with, and I would have assumed the two of you would have clashed personality wise, with Karin doing something like kicking a soccer ball at your head."

"Anyways, about the height thing. I work with my dad in his clinic a lot. One of the things I've overheard is, typically when a kid has a late growth spurt, he's likely to be taller then his peers. That's something possibly for you to look forward to." Ichigo's mouth turned up into a grin. "Then there's Chad... but he's a different story. You don't want to be as tall as him."

The teenagers mouth turned back to normal. "Anyways, about the way you look. Sure, you look different then other kids, but you still look cool. Karin... she actually said so in her interview, which you will get to see eventually. Then again, you might be more worried about the fact you look like a punk to a lot of people, with your hair looking bleached."

"I know how that feels actually. I still get called out by teachers, which is why I try harder with my grades, so the teachers don't think I'm a complete punk. Not to mention, there is a guy at school who tells me to stop copying his hair style. He even wants to fight me over it. But as I've told people, if I really cared, I would have died my hair, a long time ago."

Ichigo paused suddenly. "I know that people treating you like a child is irksome. However, you need to keep in mind, you are a kid. With a lot of the adult tasks placed on your shoulders, it can be frustrating. I always wonder, how am I supposed to juggle, being substitute soul reaper and still participate in school. It isn't easy... and I think a lot of people would say, it is an unfortunate part of growing up."

"Also, I don't know that story, about you not wanting to be as powerful as you are. You don't need to tell me though, unless you really want to. But that brings me to an important point. If you need someone to talk to, I am here. I hope you know that. There are a few other things, but I think that is most important."

Ichigo then gave a smile. "As for what I like about you the most, it is that you are you. I am going to say, I wouldn't change that for the world. You are a great friend, and like a brother, and I wouldn't want to give that up for anything."

The camera was then set on the table, facing an open window, and clicked off.

Author's note – It's been nine months since I've updated...